Attention Home Sellers – End Of Summer Checklist
Filed under Home Buyers on Aug 24,2012 | Tagged in: exterior upgrades, home diy, homebuyers, homeowners, house maintenance, interior upgrades
Now’s the time to plan out and complete your Outside Home Maintenance Projects before the cold weather strikes. We can help you understand which home fixes take priority to create the very important curb appeal. We encourage homeowners to take a walk around exterior of your homes and make a list of the problem areas. Your Realtor can help you by hiring a reliable, thorough home inspector to check around the exterior of your home. An inspector will be able to get to areas where a buyer may not want to venture, including the roof and under the home.
This is a list of END OF SUMMER Projects we suggest to the Home Seller:
1. Outdoor Painting. If you do not have the time or the resources to do a full painting job, walk around the outside of your home, and touch up any areas that look rough. If you find peeling paint, the area can be scraped and sanded, then primed and painted to maintain even texture.
2. Outdoor Caulking and sealing. Windows should be checked inside and out for possible leaks or cracks. With cold weather coming around the corner, it could mean higher heating bills. Have leaks and cracks sealed with caulk, then look at the trim around each window – if any pieces are pulling out, check for mold or rotting, then replace or reattach wood.
3. Concrete and asphalt patching. If the home features an asphalt driveway, it should be repaired with asphalt patching and sealed. If the driveway or walkways are concrete, cracks or holes can be repaired with epoxy patching material.
4. Patio and deck maintenance. On wood decks, rotten boards should be replaced, painted or stained as needed, critter nests and debris cleared. On brick patios, replace missing bricks, level off areas where tree roots have pushed up the bricks and re-grout any areas where weeds or weather have degraded the hold between the bricks.
5. Landscaping. Keep Landscaping clean and attractive. Weeds should be pulled, dropped fruit and nuts removed from under the trees to deter animals, and trees and bushes trimmed so they don’t scrape the side of the house. Many landscaping companies offer affordable fall clean-up packages if you do not want to do the work yourself.
If your home is still on the market leading into the holidays, you should spend the colder months doing interior cosmetic upgrades, such as replacing floor coverings, upgrading cabinet hardware, and interior painting. A prioritized list will make you feel more confident in your ability to finish your updates before the start of the 2013 real estate season.
